Archives For
Literary Apologetics

We believe in Marxfreudanddarwin
We believe everything is OK
as long as you don’t hurt anyone
to the best of your definition of “hurt”,
and to the best of your definition of “knowledge”.

We believe in sex before, during, and after marriage.
We believe in the therapy of sin.
We believe that adultery is fun.
We believe that sodomy’s OK.
We believe that taboos are taboo.

We believe that everything’s getting better
despite evidence to the contrary.
The evidence must be investigated
And you can prove anything with evidence.

We believe there’s something in horoscopes,
UFO’s and bent spoons.
Jesus was a good man just like Buddha,
Mohammed, and ourselves.
He was a good moral teacher though we think
His good morals were very bad.

We believe that all religions are basically the same-
at least the one that we read was.
They all believe in love and goodness.
They only differ on matters of creation,
sin, heaven, hell, God, and salvation.

We believe that after death comes the Nothing
Because when you ask the dead what happens
they say nothing.
If death is not the end, if the dead have lied, then its
compulsory heaven for all excepting perhaps
Hitler, Stalin, and Genghis Kahn

We believe in Masters and Johnson
What’s selected is average.
What’s average is normal.
What’s normal is good.

We believe in total disarmament.
We believe there are direct links between warfare and
bloodshed.
Americans should beat their guns into tractors .
And the Russians would be sure to follow.

We believe that man is essentially good.
It’s only his behavior that lets him down.
This is the fault of society.
Society is the fault of conditions.
Conditions are the fault of society.

We believe that each man must find the truth that
is right for him.
Reality will adapt accordingly.
The universe will readjust.
History will alter.

We believe that there is no absolute truth
excepting the truth that there is no absolute truth.

We believe in the rejection of creeds,
And the flowering of individual thought.Postscript:

If chance be the Father of all flesh, disaster is his rainbow in the skyand when you hear:

“State of Emergency!”

“Sniper Kills Ten!”

“Troops on Rampage!”

“Youths go Looting!”

“Bomb Blasts School!”

It is but the sound of man worshiping his maker.

Share this:

It is easy to see howMaggie Stiefvater’s popular YA series, The Wolves of Mercy Falls, resonates with today’s YA audience. In the midst of familial dysfunction and teenage angst, true love lurks just out of sight – until it shows up on your back deck. Literally. Mrs. Stiefvater uses some great imagery to craft a morally murky morality tale about life, family, identity and love. In the end, she offers hope that, for at least some of us, our history is not our destiny.

This series offers a thought provoking (and sometimes disturbing) story that can at least start a conversation about mercy, grace, forgiveness and redemption. I say “at least start” because, from a Christian perspective, there are some important truths missing from the story that shouldn’t be, and a number of situations that aren’t missing from the story that should.

As far as literary devices go, the metaphor of the wolf is a great way to explore a dark side of human nature that we are inclined to desire or indulge.

As Grace gets closer to changing, she sees that “there was something invisible and dangerous lurking inside me, and I was done being good.” Wolves have no sense of boundaries, which is why they are in trouble. They keep leaving Boundary Woods and ravaging the neighborhood pets – and sometimes people. This is a problem in itself. But the book introduces a philosophical rabbit hole that may go much deeper than just physical transformation.

“In the end, we’re wolves. I can read him (Sam) German poetry and Paul can teach him about participles and you can play Mozart for him, but in the end, it’s a long, cold night and those woods for all of us.” So says one werewolf in a speech that sounds a lot like Dawkin’s view of the universe, or Cormac McCarthys’ view of life in Sunset Unlimited. Are we all just animals in the end? If this is true, no wonder “Hope hurt more than cold,” as Sam says in Shiver.

However, that’s not the final word in the story. Sam believes that “It doesn’t make you a monster. It just takes away your inhibitions…if you are naturally angry or violent, it gets worse.” In other words, the wolf reveals us for who we really are – it supersizes us. In this series, the wolf is not automatically evil; it is a way in which to see what the primal “you” is really like when stabilizing societal influences disappear.

In Praise of Doubt: How to Have Convictions Without Becoming a Fanatic, by Peter Berger and Anton Zijderveld, is an ambitious work aiming to alleviate some of the hostility between differing world views. As odd as the title may sound, it provides some ways of understanding how doubt is not always a bad thing. But while offering some helpful ideas, it fails to lay a foundation that transcends the very problems it critiques (more on that at the end).

The book begins by noting the role of reason and science in eroding faith over the past 250 years. Voltaire’s writings and the French Revolution ( which actually enthroned the goddess of Reason in a church in Paris) serve as iconic markers for the beginning of the Enlightenment. Auguste Comte soon paved the way for a very influential empiricist science, as seen in the later philosophies of Mark, Durkheim, and Weber. The modern path to secularization seemed inevitable. When Neitzsche finally declared God was dead, many believed this would be the final nail in the religious coffin. Continue Reading…

To help us better understand the stories, worldviews, and messages shaping today’s youth, here is a review of a trending book series effecting a primarily YA audience. The fact that they are trending does not necessarily make them good, but it does make them important.

Plot Summary

The highly acclaimed stories of Kristin Cashore (Fire, Graceling, and Bitterblue) unfold in a world where certain people are born with Graces, gifts that give them a supernatural power. Every Grace is a mixed blessing; the recipients ‘unique strength becomes their undoing. The kings claim those with the greatest Graces and forces them into servitude. Those whose Graces are too ordinary to be of use are sent back home to live on the margins of society. Graceling, the first book in the series, chronicles the life of Katsa, who is gifted with a fighting Grace. Fire, the second book, is a sort-of prequel that fills in the history behind Graceling. In the third book, Bitterblue tries to fix a kingdom previous ruled by her father, a cruel and evil man with the Grace of deception.

Awards

Among other awards, Fire won the ALA Best Book for Young Adults 2010, Publishers Weekly Best Continue Reading…

Luc Ferry’s a Brief History of Thought recently caught my eye as I wandered through a local bookstore. Not only did it promise an entire history of the human ability to think, it promised to do it briefly. How is that not a win/win? It’s a bold endeavor, claiming to give perspective on the effectiveness and impact of 5 key philosophical eras in human history, beginning with the Greeks. The strength of the book is Mr. Ferry’s ability to summarize complicated worldviews in a way that is accessible and interesting. The weakness is perhaps inseparable, as a philosophical overview for a mass audience is a tough venue to accurately capture philosophies that have transformed the world.

I will do my best to summarize both his claims and my reasons why I think that, while insightful, Mr. Ferry’s conclusions fall short of being convincing, particularly when it comes to his view of Christianity. Continue Reading…